Coats Continues Push for Congress and Administration to Act on Debt Reduction
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) today continued his call for Congress to act on a long-term debt reduction plan. Coats has been speaking on the floor nearly every day the Senate has been in session this year to urge his colleagues and the administration to act now on a plan to reduce the nation’s more than $16.5 trillion debt and rein in record high deficit spending.
Audio and video of the speech is available by clicking here or on the image below.
The following are excerpts from his speech:
“I have been coming to the Senate floor just about every day that we have been in session so far this year, and I am going to continue to do so to talk about what I believe is our most pressing crisis that this body faces and that our country faces; that is, the uncontrolled runaway federal spending and accumulated debt and how it is dragging our economy down and threatening to provoke a major economic disaster if it is not addressed.”
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“If we fail to get federal spending under control in the short-term, our economy will continue to remain in the doldrums because of this cloud of economic uncertainty that hangs over investors, business people, and consumers.”
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“The first and the most essential function of the U.S. government is to defend and protect its citizens from threats to their national security. As our national debt continues to rise unrestrained, we are putting our children's future and our country's future in a very vulnerable state.”
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“Business owners in my home state of Indiana also recognize these dangers. Reflecting the sentiment of virtually every businessperson I have talked to over the past two years, Ric Zehr, a business owner in Fort Wayne, Ind., said, ‘We all need to manage our income and not borrow beyond what we can afford. I look at our country's deficit spending and it's so far beyond what the rest of us have to live like every day. As a business owner, it makes me nervous. Everyone is paying for deficit spending.’”
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“Experts and economists from both sides of the aisle agree that spending reductions must be a part of the equation to address our dangerous debt. The president has called for a ‘balanced’ approach, but he is showing no signs of leadership on restructuring mandatory runaway spending.”
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“There is a widespread consensus about the seriousness of this problem and the fact that we must take significant measures to rein in our deficit spending and do it now. We need a bold plan that will reduce spending, reform and simplify our tax system, and, most of all, restructure Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to preserve those benefits for future generations.”
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“There's no mystery about what we ought to do, we just need to get on with it. Mr. President, Senate colleagues -- Republicans and Democrats -- let's get on with it.”
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